Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, Chapter 95 - The Cassock quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What is the "enigmatical object" that Ishmael describes lying in the lee scuppers?

   • The whale's lower jawbone, unhinged during processing
   • Correct answer: The whale's phallus, referred to as the grandissimus
   • The cistern from inside the whale's enormous head
   • A carved wooden idol recovered from the whale's stomach

   The jet-black conical object is the whale's phallus, which the mariners call the "grandissimus." Melville never names it directly, relying on euphemism and biblical allusion.

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2. 2

   Question 2. To what does Ishmael compare the object's appearance?

   • A ship's mast blackened by years of tar and smoke
   • Correct answer: Yojo, the ebony idol belonging to Queequeg
   • A length of anchor chain coiled on the forecastle
   • The dark blubber of the try-works after rendering

   Ishmael says the object is "jet-black as Yojo, the ebony idol of Queequeg," and adds that "an idol, indeed, it is; or rather, in old times, its likeness was."

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3. 3

   Question 3. Which biblical figure destroyed a phallic idol at the brook Kedron?

   • King Solomon, who purged foreign idols from the temple
   • King David, who brought the Ark to Jerusalem
   • Correct answer: King Asa, who deposed his grandmother Queen Maachah
   • King Josiah, who reformed worship practices in Judea

   Melville references the First Book of Kings, Chapter 15, in which King Asa deposed Queen Maachah for idol worship and burned the idol at the brook Kedron.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What is the sailor called who processes the grandissimus?

   • The boatswain, who oversees all deck operations
   • The cooper, who maintains barrels and casks
   • Correct answer: The mincer, who slices blubber into thin sheets
   • The harpooner, who leads the initial whale strike

   The mincer is the crewman responsible for slicing blubber into thin "bible leaves" for efficient oil rendering.

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5. 5

   Question 5. How does the mincer prepare the pelt after removing it?

   • He salts and folds it for storage below decks
   • Correct answer: He turns it inside out, stretches it, and hangs it in the rigging to dry
   • He boils it in the try-works to extract residual oil
   • He wraps it around the mast as waterproof protection

   The mincer turns the pelt inside out "like a pantaloon leg," stretches it to almost double its diameter, and hangs it "well spread, in the rigging, to dry."

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6. 6

   Question 6. How does the mincer convert the dried pelt into a garment?

   • He sews it with sailcloth thread and adds bone buttons
   • Correct answer: He removes three feet from the pointed end and cuts two arm-holes at the other
   • He splits it lengthwise and ties it at the waist with rope
   • He folds it double and fastens it with whale-bone pins

   The mincer removes "some three feet of it, towards the pointed extremity, and then cutting two slits for arm-holes at the other end, he lengthwise slips himself bodily into it."

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does the term "cassock" normally refer to?

   • A leather apron worn by blacksmiths and tradesmen
   • Correct answer: A long garment worn by members of the clergy
   • A protective coat worn by soldiers during battle
   • A sailor's waterproof oilskin jacket for storms

   A cassock is a long garment worn by clergy. Melville's title creates deliberate irony by naming the mincer's whale-skin vestment after religious attire.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What are "bible leaves" in the context of this chapter?

   • Pressed botanical specimens the crew collects at port
   • Correct answer: Very thin slices of blubber cut for efficient oil rendering
   • Pages from the ship's copy of the Bible, used as kindling
   • Flat pieces of whalebone used to scrape the deck clean

   The mates cry "Bible leaves! Bible leaves!" to urge the mincer to cut the blubber as thinly as possible, because thinner slices render oil faster in the try-works.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Where does the mincer perform his cutting work?

   • At a curved bench bolted to the main deck near the helm
   • Correct answer: At a wooden horse planted against the bulwarks with a tub beneath
   • On a flat stone slab positioned next to the try-works furnace
   • At the windlass platform where the blubber is first hauled aboard

   The mincer works at "a curious wooden horse, planted endwise against the bulwarks, and with a capacious tub beneath it, into which the minced pieces drop."

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10. 10

    Question 10. What simile does Melville use to describe the mincer removing the pelt?

    • Like a butcher skinning a side of beef in a cold cellar
    • Correct answer: Like an African hunter removing the pelt of a boa
    • Like a farmer shearing wool from a full-grown sheep
    • Like a tanner stripping bark from a freshly felled oak

    Melville writes that the mincer "proceeds cylindrically to remove its dark pelt, as an African hunter the pelt of a boa."

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11. 11

    Question 11. What deliberate pun does the phrase "candidate for an archbishoprick" contain?

    • A play on "bishop" and the chess piece used in whaling strategy
    • Correct answer: A play on "prick," reinforcing the chapter's sustained phallic humor
    • A play on "arch" referring to the curved shape of the cassock
    • A play on "candidate" and the Latin word for whiteness

    The word "archbishoprick" contains an intentional pun on "prick," adding another layer to the chapter's sustained sexual humor beneath its religious imagery.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What central theme does Chapter 95 most directly explore?

    • The hierarchy of command aboard a 19th-century whaling vessel
    • Correct answer: The blurred boundary between the sacred and the profane
    • The psychological toll of prolonged isolation at sea
    • The economic forces driving the American whaling industry

    By dressing a laborer in a vestment made from a whale's reproductive organ, placing him at a "pulpit" cutting "bible leaves," Melville collapses the boundary between sacred religious ritual and profane industrial labor.

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